Raiders GM Mike Mayock working to bring scouts, coaches together

The Raiders are embarking on a roster overhaul with a new leader in general manager Mike Mayock, and the former NFL Media draft guru has already made some changes in the way the front office operates. Namely, he’s made an effort to ensure information flows freely between all parties involved.

“What I’m most impressed with is how Mike has rallied the coaches and rallied the scouts behind the scenes,” coach Jon Gruden said Tuesday, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “He’s a terrific leader. His energy is contagious. That’s a big part of the job.”

Oakland’s previous GM, Reggie McKenzie, and Gruden didn’t always project togetherness in their short time together. Mayock says he and Gruden are on the same page. The GM also handed each coach a position specific, two-inch think scouting report compiled by his staff, per Tafur.

“My point to them was, ‘We’re not hiding anything in this building,’” Mayock said. “And when we get back from the Senior Bowl, I am going to expect that every position coach is going to put into our grading system — on our computers, we have a new coaches’ tab in there — and I am going to want a summary of every player and what we learned on and off the field.

“It’s a completely open building and the information is flowing both ways, and that’s what’s got me more juiced than anything The common denominator of dysfunctional football buildings is when the coaches and the scouts don’t have a true relationship that goes both ways.”

Note that Mayock made it easier, and necessary, for the coaching staff to provide input via the scout’s computer system. While he didn’t criticize McKenzie, that change speaks volumes. Now, the coaches and scouts are sharing computers, the epitome of working together.

Curiously, many of the scouts are holdovers from McKenzie’s staff, including Raleigh McKenzie, Reggie’s twin. Mayock said he’s evaluating them during this crucial start to the Raiders’ rebuild. But regardless of who’s doing the scouting, it appears there will be a culture of openness designed to keep the franchise functioning properly as they prepare to move to Las Vegas in 2020.

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